Bottle holder



Dec. 17, 1946. J. COSLEY 2,412,873

, BOTTLE HOLDER Filed Nov. 16, 1944 WITNESSES:

I INVENTOR John Cos/ey.

F W I ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 17, 1946 BOTTLE HOLDER John Cosley, NorthBraddock, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, EastPittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 16,1944, Serial No. 563,718

My invention relates to a safety device and more particularly to adevice for safely storing relatively heavy metallic or non-metalliccylinders, bars, or explosive tanks as high pressure gas flasks or tankscharged with explosive material.

To obtain a better understanding of my contribution to the art somediscussion of the prior practice is essential.

-In many places in industry gas, as oxygen, hydrogen, and other gases,is used in considerable quantities. This gas is supplied to themanufacturer in metal tanks or high pressure flasks. Often a whole bankof from six to eighteen, or more of such tanks or flasks are storedalong a wall for ready use. In use all or groups of these flasks areoften interconnected by suitable conduits andvalvesto provide a largecapacity of gas under substantially constant pressure.

The flask storing rack, built of rather heavy metal, has abottom plateprovided with a plurality of arcuate cut-out portions, slightly lessthan semi-circular, the plate being positioned about six inches abovethe floor. A similar plate is fixed in the rack about three and a halffeet above the bottom plate so that the arcuate cutout. portions are invertical alignment. The bottles are positioned in the cut-out portionsof the bottom and top plate. Since these high pressure flasks areusually some five feet in length, have considerable Weight and areexplosive, the suppliers of the racks provide a retaining chain for eachflask. v

This retaining chain is swivelly secured to the top plate at the rightof the cut-out portion'and to retain the flask is hooked into a hole inthe plate at the left of the cut-out portion. This arrangement issatisfactory, considered from a standpoint of safety alone, if the chainis always hooked into place, but it seems as though no amount ofcautioning will teach workmen the unfailing habit of hooking the chainsinto place after changing flasks. Such chains are usually unhooked.

One broad object of my invention is the provision of fool-proof safestoring means for heavy objects. a

A more specific object of my invention is the provision ofsemi-automatic retaining means in a rack for cylinders containingexplosive materials.

A still more specific object is a simple, cheap fool-proof high-pressuregas flask retaining rack wherein the flasks are held in verticalposition.

' The objects recited are merely illustrative.

6 Claims. (01. 211-74) 2 Other objects and advantages will become moreapparent from a study of the following specification and theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a flask embodying my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the elements, in a tank storing rack,constituting my contribution to the art.

In Fig. 1 the flask storing rack is shown to have a base angle iron I towhich the relatively storing rack Widefloor plate 2 is rigidly secured.Disposed at a height of about two thirds the length of the high pressuregas flasks to be stored, the top plate 3 is disposed. This top plate hasa reiniorcing angle iron 5 secured thereto. The top plate 3 and basestructure comprising the base channel i and floor plate 2 are rigidlysecured to each other by triangular metal plates 4 disposed at each end.The triangular plates 4 are so disposed that the shorter legs are at thebottom, welded to the floor plate 2 and angle iron I,

and the longer legs vertical, the plate 3 and angle iron 5 being rigidlysecured to plates 4 at the upper end. The flasks are to rest on thefloor plate 2 which is rather wide to thus provide a stable portablerack.

Disposed substantially in vertical alignment with the deepest portion ofthe arcuate cut-out portions in plate 3, the angle iron 7' is rigidlysecured to the plates 4.

To safely store the flasks I provide the top plate 3 and angle iron 4with my special retaining means at each of the generally semi-circularcut-out portions 8 in the top plate 3. A description of one willsuffice.

At the right-hand side of the semi-circular cut-out portion 8 isdisposed a bearing It]. This hearing may be merely a gas pipe ofsuitable internal diameter having a length slightly greater than theWidth of the top plate 3. This bearing is spot-welded to the top surfaceplate 3.

A rod It is rotatably mounted in the bearing. The rear end l2 of the rodjust beyond the rear edge of plate 3'is, as shown in Fig. bentdownwardly at right angles to the rod. A snugly filling washer i3 isspot-welded to the rod ll just to the front of the bend between rod 5 iand the end [2 to prevent axial forward movement of the rod. A similarwasher M is similarly secured to the rod II at a distance from washer itslightly greater than the length of bearing pipe Iii. Washer l4 preventsaxial backward movement of the rod l I. At a distance from washer l4slightly greater than the radialdimension of the flask F to be retained,the rod H is bent toward the left, thus forming the flask retaining endl5. The axis of end 85 is normal to the axis of rod H and the axis ofend I2 is normal to the axis of rod II. The intersecting axes of end It:and rod ll define a plane that is normal to the plane defined by theintersecting axes of rod II and end [2.

To the rear surface of the angle iron 4 through a suitable spacer iii ifsuch is necessary, the block I! having the general shape of acarpenter's square is rigidly secured. This block I! has one of itslegs; i3 disposed vertically, and the other of its legs is disposedhorizontally toward the left. I

The end 52 lies in the plane of block l1, and the block it is sodisposed with reference, to the axis of rod ii that end l2 may be movedfrom the vertical position shown in Fig. 2 to the horizontal positionshown at the right in Fig. 1. The legs of block it thus act as stops forend [2 in its arcuate movement.

When a flask is to be positioned in the cut-out portion the end is islifted to a vertical position till end 42 contacts the leg is. After theflask is in position, the end i5 need merely be released. The rod H,because of the weight of ends I2 and I5, will rotate counterclockwisetill the end I2 engages leg iii. When end I2 is in such end position,end 55 will, of course, be in a horizontal positionto retainthe flask Fin the rack,

It will be noted that my device will not permit the positioning of theflask in the rack except end E?) be movedv clockwise through ninetydegrees; "Once the flask is in position, no further positive act isrequired of the attendant. My device automatically takes over the taskof retaining the flask in. the rack. Accidents from falling and possiblyexploding flask because of such falling are completely eliminated.

While I have shown my special safety device as positioned at the rightof the cut-out portion, it is, of course, clear that the device could beat theleft for left-handed people without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

l claim as my invention:

1. In a rack for storing elongated objects in a vertical position on abase and within a recess in the front of a horizontal member formingpart of the rack, in combination, a shaft disposed for I rotary motionon the horizontal member on an axis substantially normal to the member,a pendulous depending projection on the rear end of the shaft rigidlysecured thereto and tending to hold the shaft in a given angularposition, a pendulous arm projecting at right angles from the front endof the shaft, said arm falling in a plane normal to the plane definedby. the shaft and the pendulous depending projection, said pendulousarmwhen in horizontal position falling in front of the recess in thehorizontal member, and means for limiting the "rotation of the shaftthrough a right angle so that when the pendulous arm is in horizontalposition the pendulous depending projection is in a vertical positionand when the pendulous arm is in a vertical position, so that an objectmay be inserted in the recess, the pendulous depending projection is ina horizontal position.

2. In a rack for storing elongated objects in a vertical position on abase and within a recess in the front of a horizontally disposed memberforming part of the rack, in combination, a bell crank lever pivoted forrotation on a horizontal axis normal to the horizontal member, one crank4 arm, designated the rear crank arm, being disposed behind thehorizontal member and the other crank arm, designated the front crankarm, being disposed a selected distance in front of the 3 horizontalmember, means for limiting the angular motion of the rear crank arm froma vertically downward position to a horizontal position, the relation ofthe crank arms to each other being so chosen that the limits of movementof the rear crank arm from a vertically downward position to ahorizontal position limit the movement of the front crank arm from ahorizontal position to a vertically upward position in the orderrecited, whereby said front and rear crank arms,

: normally because of their weights and moment arms, take horizontal andvertically downward positions, respectively, said front crank arm, whenin its horizontal position being disposed in front of the recess in thehorizontal member to thus retain within the recess, any elongated objectvertically disposed in the recess.

3. In a rack for storing elongated objects in a vertical position on abase and within a recess in the front of a horizontally disposed memberforming part of the rack, in combination, a bell crank lever pivoted ona horizontal axis on the horizontal member, the crank arms being off-setso that one crank arm is disposed at the back of the horizontal memberand the other is disposed in front of the recess, when in ahorizontalposition, a distance sufficient to fall in front of the objectbeing stored in the recess, and means for limiting the movement of thebell crank lever so that the front crank arm may take either a verticalposition, to permit insertion of an object:

in the recess, or a horizontal position to retain the object in therecess, said rear crank arm being positioned with reference to thefrontcrank arm to bias the front crank arm to a horizontal p081. tion.

4. In a rack for storing and securing elongated objects within alignedpositions in a pair of parallelly disposed members forming part of therack,

in combination, a bell crank lever pivoted on an axis normal to one ofthe parallelly disposed members and having its crank arms falling inparallel planes spaced from each other at a distance slightly greaterthan one of the parallelly disposed members so that one crank arm fallsbehind and the other crank arm falls in front of the member to which thebell crank lever is pivoted, the pivotal positioning of the bell cranklever being such thatthe crank arm falling in front of the member whenin one position also falls across the recess in one of the p-arallellydisposed members so that any elongated object disposed in the recess isheld in the recess, the crank arms being angularly so disposed withreference to the pivot axis that the front crank arm is always biased tosaid one position.

5. In a rack for retaining objects in position in a recess on a barforming part of the rack, in combination, a bearing sleeve disposedadjacent the recess and transverse of the bar, a crank shaft mounted forrotation in the bearing, crank arms projecting from the shaft at eachend of the bearing sleeve, the direction of projection of the crank armswith reference to the bearing axis and with reference to each otherbeing such that one crank arm is biased to fall across the recess in thebar to hold any-object disposed therein in position, and means forlimiting the rotatignof theiorank shaft in the bearing to an angle ofninety degrees so that the crank armcoacting with the recess Y upper barand disposed adjacent the generally 10 semi-circular recess in the upperbar and having its axis at right angles to the upper bar, a rod disposedfor rotation in the bearing sleeve, said rod having its rear end justbeyond the rear end of the bearing sleeve bent downwardly at rightangles to the bearing axis and having its front end, at a distance fromthe upper bar slightly greater than the radius of the cylindrical objectto be stored, bent in a horizontal direction to fall over the recess inthe upper bar to thus retain within the recess any object that may bedisposed in the recess, means for limiting the angular motion of therear downwardly bent end from a vertical position to a horizontalposition to time limit the movement of the front bent end from ahorizontal position to a vertical position.

JOHN COSLEY.

